


Be With Me, Always

by LostInQueue



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Prince Ben Solo, Rey's a teacher, Saving Ben Solo, light and fluffy, mystery island
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:09:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22094617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LostInQueue/pseuds/LostInQueue
Summary: Prince Ben Solo is expected to preform a task of heroism to gain his Kingship as it isn't offered to him based on age, but going has him trapped in a memory of an island, a woman - his lover and savior. Desperate to find her, he leaves the palace to look for clues, even if he comes up empty handed... hes tried.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo
Comments: 5
Kudos: 24
Collections: Solo Love Letters





	Be With Me, Always

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ReyloBrit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReyloBrit/gifts).



> Huge thank you to ReyloBrit for her lovely moodboard at the top and Ash for the second one. They're both FANTASTIC and I love them!! <3333

[ ](https://ibb.co/GvVz1Jv)

[ ](https://imgbb.com/)

_ It’ll be alright.  _

_ Come now, sweetheart.  _

_ You can manage…cant you?  _

A wisp of a sound broke his concentration, only to swirl around in his head mercilessly. Prince Ben’s brow furrowed as he tried to hold on. He wanted to hear it, to hear her, but somehow in the loss of his concentration she’d escaped him. 

It was familiar. 

Strong and soft, all of what he could only hope from a breath of his childhood. It sounded… like home. It sounded like the words his mother would use to guide him in after he’d fallen. It’s why he’d stopped out there in the first place… 

He’d blinked back his frustration moving a fraction of a step away from the gilded golden light at the horizon. There was no way he’d ever know what truly happened and the bright light made him hyper aware of the loss he’d seen at sea.

All the while the sun had been setting on his day. Introductions made for the man he’d become, the hero that sacrificed it all for his people, was now eligible to be wed. 

In their kingdom, his father decreed that it wasn’t the age of the man who could become King, but the risk involved in putting his country first. It was of utmost importance to the Solo family line to prove their worth before ever setting foot near the throne. And now that the moment had been upon him it felt wrong… like something else was out there, calling him. 

Wasn’t it though? 

Wasn’t it what he heard?

His gaze flicked back up towards that golden orb settling into a puddle of itself, nearly ready to extinguish the burning sky, remembering how he found it. The girl that was out there… encouraging him on her terms, always, and like a love struck fool he followed. His memories ate him alive, how he escaped the madness. Ben shook his head, trying to clear it, before stepping inside his quarters, his long charcoal cape fluttering around him in his wake. 

Those same images of his past excursions seemed to haunt him often enough that he’d lose sleep which certainly made him become a shadow of himself. Being home made no difference as he found the pageantry of the service maidens a lousy step up from the pawns he’d used in battle. Had they not known what he’d just done? Had they any clue at all?

It hadn’t exactly been war, winning one, losing one… it wasn’t that at all. He’d made it across the sea with his navy to the shores just across from theirs. Members of the grand council had pushed for this, explaining that they’d been a thorn in kingdom’s side for far to long, one that needed to be removed, truly, but he hadn’t been able to do it. Morally it made no sense to attack a lonely isle, and yet there he found himself, ready and willing to do what needed to be done. 

His fleet stood tall anchored not far off shore looking far more like a threatening wall of dominance if ever he saw one. It wasn’t only there that he had known his country’s power to be. He was, in fact, Prince Ben Solo who had an outstanding amount of power at his fingertips and yet he caved, for a pair of pretty eyes, staring wide eyed up at him as he made it to the treeline. The woman stood there, still and sturdy, waiting with a walking stick in hand that had nearly reached his height. 

Ben remembers how all the air left in his lungs from climbing up the large sand dunes to her, or so he thought. She was immaculate, the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on, standing there and staring him down as well. His father would have scoffed at the way he’d remembered those lapsing moments, but it was true. She stopped him with no more than her challenging glare and had only softened for a moment when he agreed not to harm her.

Only days after he’d learned of her, was she asking for his help to save what she loved. 

It seemed like a dream. 

One only he could see, and yet he had his navy in attendance awaiting orders. For once in his life he truly felt as though they were in the wrong for being there, that he could have done this on his own, but there they were. Ben found himself giving clipped orders, several of his closest guards were allowed to follow, but the rest remained on the ships, awaiting any news to push further with their mission.

In that time he’d gotten to know only a little about her. The woman was truly beautiful, far more so than the word could ever convey. He’d found himself at her mercy, wishing for every moment he could to be in her presence and when the opportunity arose, he wasn't ashamed to follow her around like her shadow. 

Several days later, when she’d finally begun to trust his intentions, woman waved her hand, guiding him through what used to be a bustling town. She’d let him stand there, ashamed of what he’d been willing to do, to sail across the endless ocean on a whim to destroy something so small. 

“This is all they have,” she whispered.

“They?” he asked.

The woman nodded slightly, making sure he’d take in the scenery.    
  
It had been a small village. One nestled in a small valley, just a few miles from the shore. In the distance mountains of rich green leafed trees nearly scraped the sky. Rivers ran through it, spilling into the cerulean blue ocean from which he crossed, all teeming with life, but there had been something off. Something wrong. Despite the lovely landscape as far as the eye could see, Ben noticed a very critical issue. There had been no sound. No ambiance. No lapping of water, rustling of leaves as the breeze met the trees, no sounds of children playing, animals living… nothing. The only sound that manifested had been the sound of her voice. 

One - the only one begging for help. 

Demanding it, really.    
  
And so he studied this place. Him and his crew had been there for weeks, all wondering the same. How could something so pure have called us to destroy it?

He’d wandered with her all over the island to map it figuring that if he had the lay of the land, he could help them, help her. All the while putting the oddness of this place on hold. There had to be a logical explanation for what was happening to them. To it. And Ben was determined to figure it out. Title or no title he would correct this for her, somehow. 

He snorted at that pulling his cape from him, then his cowl, careful not to reopen the wound he’d received the night they left. Prince Ben and his men found nothing out of the ordinary there, except for the loss of sound. Which while eerie could have simply been because of the shelter the mountain range provided from the oncoming weather. It acted like a shield of sorts, protecting them from a range of wild windstorms and flash flooding, which despite Prince Ben’s enjoyment at sea, he hated excess water. Part of it had been because of his ensemble, his wardrobe, despite his strength, was heavy… and not something he needed to be any heavier than what it had been given the added element. 

Ben swallowed at the memory that night provided him, his adam’s apple bobbing at the thought of it, pulling the skin of his split cheek tightly in opposite directions from it’s stitches. The sting is far subdued - significantly so from that night… but still most obviously there. He remembers how the ground split beneath him, molten lava spewed unnaturally from the land, lashing up and outward from the depths of it’s core. He’d wondered if the girl, his guide knew, and played him like a fool, and yet… she’d been the one to save him. The one that opened his eyes. She was the one that calmed their forces, coaxed him over to her, saved him….

She was the one...

And then she was gone. 

Their fleet had been pushed back into the ocean all while watching the island torment itself. Had he had the strength to sit back and watch he may have… instead he found himself charging back into the fray looking for his lady which only set him back into a steady fog all the way home. 

Ben could feel the weight in his pout forming knowing very well that he was no hero. It was claimed as such because their land could see the smoke billowing upward into the atmosphere from far across the horizon. It had been nothing to claim. Nothing to see… except for the face of a bright young woman who’d been in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

He’d finished disrobing wondering how he could possibly pass this for less than a heroic act which would surpass his need to be wed or kinged for that matter. All the while, he still found himself asking questions on his very existence, how he even made it back to his ship before the twilight blanketed him. 

Rest came easier that night having thought about it - nearly reliving those moments in his dreams. He’d seen her, felt her… kept her close with every passing day. Her voice called to him here too, echoes of a promise she made in her sleep to stay with him always kept him calm. 

“Be with me,” she’d mutter. 

“Be with me,” he’d say in the comfort of his bed, a pillow tucked beside him while he tried to remember her form. 

One day, he promised himself, he’d find her. 

The woman from the island....

She’d be his and he’d be hers, nothing amiss, always together… he promised himself, the stars, the deep midnight sky…

.*.*.*.*

The next morning Prince Ben had risen to gulls cawing at the shore. Of all the things he hated most was a seagull screaming it’s feathery head off at anything earlier than dawn. They’d been only slightly less annoying than the women that came in and out of his chambers, fetching food and water for him in his self proclaimed meditative state. Deciding it would be best to revert to the old ways of the kingdom before moving on with  _ his search for a bride _ , Prince Ben took up extended absences from having to court women he’d never fancy as a last resort to figure out a way to find his missing piece. 

He’d leave his quarters through a series of hidden doorways to find his way out of the palace, calmly moving throughout a humming street, full of all walks of life, both human and animal alike. He’d moved through the city walls, far enough to get himself near the docks to take in the sight of the fleet’s singed ships. 

Flashbacks would tempt him, call him, but his question would remain...

Had it really been that bad? 

They looked as if they’d sailed right through the danger, melted, warped steel marred the starboard side of several massive ships… it had been the things of fairy tales to bring such destruction without weaponry, and yet, the earth itself had been able to do this. For a moment, Ben lowered his eyes at the marks remembering his own, only to hear that voice again. 

_ It’ll be alright.  _

_ Come now, sweetheart.  _

_ You can manage…cant you?  _

_ She’d spoken to him. His lady. Those were her words. Her encouragement… his eyes shot back up to where he’d remembered moving with her. Barely being able to open his eyes, she’d made sure to get him to use each foot, each step in the right direction, to get him up the rope ladder. Men, his men, hauled him aboard. The skies around them thickened in the billowing smoke threatening their very existence. He whipped his head around to look for her even as he’d been standing there on the docks reliving the moment. A breeze pushed away a thick enough patch of ash revealing the empty ropes of the ladder, her form no longer on it.  _

The Prince never truly could gauge the thought of this loss… not at this magnitude, but his body fell hard and fast onto the ground. 

She’d saved him and wasn't strong enough to save herself…

He wasn't strong enough to try either. 

And yet, something on the wind calls to him…

_ It’ll be alright.  _

_ Come now, sweetheart.  _

_ You can manage…cant you?  _

“It won’t be alright,” he sobs, “you’re not here…”

Commotion begins around the Prince calling his attention behind him. A young woman in a commoners dress, low ankle boots, and a hairdo that made him swallow his tongue, kneels unceremoniously down into the mud doing the best to help clean off a child who appeared to have slipped there. 

Ben found himself listening in to their conversation, begging against all odds of the busy streets to hear her speak. 

Children around them quieted down about the mess, leaned in and tried to help their schoolmate. 

“Miss Rey, my momma, she says sinners fall in slippery places… is Benny a sinner if he fell here?”

Rey, who had been teaching over the course of several months on this shore, replied, “Now, now,” she hushed the child. “There’s no reason for that. It’s mud. If you fell, would you like being called a sinner?”

“No ma’am,” the child whispered, bowing his head as he went.

“Then, how about we stop and help him instead. Lift him, like you’d want to be lifted? Hmm?”

“Yes, ma’am,” several children, that of which looked like a class had welcomed the thought, got down to their level and cared for the boy. 

He watched her mannerisms and how she thanked them, then proceeded to tell them where she came from and the wonderful young man that came to save her in her time of need too...

“Though, I‘m afraid I’ll never know what truly called him to the island. I’d been stranded for years.” The children listened to her intently. Being new to them she had that sort of power, the intriguing kind at least to keep their attention while she spoke. “Not much more than a handful of people would come and go finding its overgrowth a daunting task to clean, much like the mud you’ve managed to cover yourself in, Benny,” she said pulling up her apron to gently clean the boy’s face. 

Prince Ben watched her meticulously clean the child, trying to lend an ear to their conversation still and taking several chances on moving toward them as he continued. Each breath seemed harder now. What if it was her? What if it wasn’t? Did word get to the shore regarding what truly happened? A chill ran up his spine regarding the throne… but an evening calm came too remembering how little he cared for getting married. There was a yin and yang to this that he couldn’t quite understand… and yet… he happened to weigh the thought that she could have just been telling them a compelling story just to keep them happy and still instead.

The woman began to stand from her crouched position, her dress now covered from the knee down in the mire, her hands darkened from it too, but it was of no matter to him. Ben couldn’t help but beg her to turn around. He wouldn't dare run to her, embarrass himself that way, not unless he knew for sure. If she was the one he spent that time with, if she was the one he promised himself to... there were no words for what he thought he’d do. 

He watched on baited breath as she lifted the child to clean the rest of him. The same flicker of light that caressed the land the night before touched her cheek as she turned around with the boy, blinding the Prince just so. It had to be her. 

Despite not being able to see her face clearly, the remainder of her form had been reminded him of the woman, Rey... Everything from her chosen hairstyle, the three buns he’d never seen before meeting her, down to the way she held herself, proud, unmoving… it had to be her. 

Her face eclipsed the welcome sun allowing him to see her, fully… finally. 

Before he could think about it anymore he was moving. His footfalls heavy on the dusty streets weaving between citizens, nearly tripping over children to get to her. His hand reaching out on it’s own accord to finally find her once more. 

Her name left his lips, an instant plea, he knew he wouldn't be able to hold it in. Her skin felt both smooth and rough from the now drying clay practically painted there, but he paid little mind to it. His form seemed to catch up with him while his eyes traveled up through the shadows of her curves finally diving into the depths of her soul. Her eyes had been clouded like the ash at sea, protecting her, no doubt… but once they’d been released from her shelter, he’d seen the world in her eyes. 

“Rey?” he asked again through a shuddering breath. 

He watched her lips part, her pupils dilate, accepting him once more. Her body heaved through breaths he was sure he’d been taking from her with his intense gaze. 

The child in her arms straightened his legs to get down, softly reaching the comfort there. He praised her kindness with the children and furthermore with him in strings of phrases that sounded less like them and more like sighs of relief. 

“Where did you? How did you? How?” Ben trailed, capturing her lips with his own before she could answer.    
  
It’d been several long moments of building fire between them, neither breathing a word more of their adventures together. The touch of her skin to his kept him burning, it always would. Parting only to breathe, she tried answering him, giving one or two words between tears of joy to be here, reunited with her. 

She’d painted a picture far past the ash, far past where he could see. His love, his heroine, she’d saved him and fallen into the dingy she’d rowed them out on. Her quick thinking had her coasting along side them as they made their way back through trough seas. 

Tears streamed down her cheeks at the memory. His own matched hers, far more threatened with how it could have ended for her. 

“Stay with me,” he rushed out. “Be with me…” he corrected himself. 

Rey could only nod, still unable to dash away her relief. 

“Always,” she agreed. 

.*.*.*.*

Being fawned over by a family she’d never known was in a word uncomfortable to watch. Ben had reservations about allowing it but his mother and father pressed forward practically enveloping her in a way he had only been able to on the island. Everywhere he turned she was there, dotted in clothing she felt the need to fight… or alter… which made his heart swell. He was about to ask her to marry him, against the code, against their family laws, at dinner, in front of everyone that would ever matter in the kingdom after he was kinged, of course. 

He’d nearly spilled the beans dozens of times since she’d promised to be with him. They’d talked about their futures as if it was written somewhere, as if it was studied by her students, as if it was as well known as the laws his family provided. An unimaginable amount of pride surged through him when she mentioned wanting to give him as many children as she could carry, as many as they could possibly care for… 

But the night he was to be kinged, his beloved was nowhere to be found. 

His ceremony, his night… it’d slipped right between his fingers. 

She was gone. 

Left without a trace. 

Grief overwhelmed him. Was it something he’d done? Was it something he failed to do? Everything was right… wasn’t it? 

Ben found himself rushing around the kingdom, everyone able ordered to search for her, when he found the spot they shared in the village, right there in the street. Stepping in to it as if he’d accepted a dance, he floated with imaginary foot steps, shuffling just slightly as they did, regaining the electricity that once crackled between the two only to look out to the horizon. 

She left. 

It wasn’t against her will…

She went...home.

The prince’s shoulders dropped, deflated with the pain of rejection, only to hear his memory there in that space float back into his ears. 

“Be with me,” he said; her answer, “Always.”

She said she’d always… always be with him? Even if she wasn’t. 

Was this the message?    
Was this what he missed?

The mystery that was his love hadn’t gone unnoticed. Prince Ben hadn’t been one to settle, to be interested in another romantically before he met the woman on the island… it hadn’t been something he practiced, and yet, her message was clear.

Ben whispered to her in their space:

_ It’ll be alright.  _

_ I’ll come now, sweetheart.  _

_ I can manage that and more. _

His voyage is far from easy at this time around being on a smaller vessel. For what it was worth, he felt as though this wouldn’t frighten her. It was the last thing he wanted, honestly. In fact, she made him willing to change entirely...Ben had taken the preparations to allow his family to go on without his heirship, noting that if his bloodline was the reason she fled, the reason she couldn’t go through with it, then he would walk away from that too. Living without her for those long weeks traveling across the ocean made him weary. Her strong spirit aiding him through his journey patted down his fear, helping the man cross without fatality, which was welcome. 

At least something had gone right for them… he thought.

With it lingering in mind, he made it back to her shore, unceremoniously dropping anchor there, only to stumble over the port side down into the cold, salty water below. Although he tried, he still managed to lose himself, arguing with the water, the rise and fall of each wave damn near pulling him under, while he searched for the ledge he knew was there.    
  


He’d lost his cape in a flash, soon after the boots tugged him downward and they’d been relieved from him too, stuck in the soft, fine sand below him. This was not remotely how he thought this day was going to go, but when he’d finally found the beach he hadn’t felt weak. He felt rejuvenated. Ready to find her. 

Ben had surveyed the scene, finding not one blemish they’d left behind. _ It was as if they went back in time _ , the man thought as he reached up to trace his face that bore the mimicking trench, only to find it had healed too - a mere ribbon of what it once was. 

How could it be?

Was it this place? 

The changes he made?

His fingers fell from his cheek, his eyes roaming the remainder if the isle before him, a faint, quick spark tapped into his memories, guiding him on to find her. Ben knew where she’d be. The trip would be long but he knew this place better than his own kingdom. She taught him well. 

Each step forward kept his mind at ease. He could hear her in those hills, remember her in a way no man could know his life partner and most importantly forgive both her and himself on that journey. Up he went into the mountains… up to where it nearly scraped the sky… Ben found her tucked away inside, wrapped in a blanket, the one they shared all that time ago. 

She looked, in a word, drained. 

Nothing like the woman she’d appeared to be on his shore nor the warrior he’d met on hers. 

“Rey?” he asked, his voice just barely higher than a whisper. 

She shouldn’t have been able to hear him and yet an a mewl of a sound returned from her. His name on his lips returns to him, rough and sorrowful. 

“Why have you come?” she whispers her question.

He can’t help the way he feels - all he feels… there’s so much to say and not much he knows how to, and so the only thing he can say is to be with her. 

Her eyes are red rimmed and her body moves like she’s been thoroughly beaten, but forces herself to sit upright. Her face glows in the warm flame ablaze in the center of the room. It was a feature he found odd and inviting at the same time when he first laid eyes on it. And now it served as an anchor to her, helping her sit upright. 

“To be with me?” Rey asked, her thin brow furrowing. Her eyes squinted along with them while she ran through her memories. “But you said all that mattered was the throne…”

He could feel the jerkiness in his head when he went to shake it, “When did I say,” he choked on his words. “Since the day we met, I have always put you first. I’ve never lied to you...please, you must believe me.”

She only started at him in response. 

“Rey, I-“

“You said so. I heard you… I heard them… your kingdom… they don’t even know me, not well enough at least to decide what I can and can’t do.” She shook her head then lowered it into the open mouth of her blanket. 

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It does…”

“It doesn’t… I left it. All of it… I left it for you. You’re the only future for me, Rey,” he blinked back tears threatening to spill down his cheeks. Never once did he think she ran from him. Maybe the responsibilities that came with him, maybe the power she’d have was too much to handle, but none of it mattered. Ben didn’t see it like that. He could only see the future they spoke of… dreamed of while tangled in each other’s arms. “The only one I can see.”

He’d begun taking short, careful steps toward her, fighting his usually long saunter.

“You, what?” Rey asked, her lips parted in what he could only assume was awe. 

“There’s no life worth living without you in it,” he told her, his breath leaving him in unsure, short pants, as if he’d still been struggling against the sea to find her. 

Slowly, he watched Rey stand, shrugging the blanket from her shoulders revealing her worn form hiding in a disheveled mess of cloth somehow holding together and yet he could only see her fiery spirit, her twinkling hazel eyes, her shy smile widen enough to accept him. 

“I didn't want to go, Ben. Please believe me,” her message threatened his heart. Ben could only prepare for pain. This was the end, he thought. He was sure of it. “I couldn’t be them. I couldn't be what you needed, not there. I - I dont belong there… It’s why I fell behind. It’s why I stayed out here in the mountains. But even out here, nothing lasts forever. Not freedom, not content, I was a prisoner to my loneliness, prayed for someone to show me my place in this world, and then you came.” He listened to her stop, then start again when she found the courage to. “I -I was afraid, Ben,” she added.

“You’re the bravest woman I know, Rey,” Ben shook his head then dipped it forward, nuzzling against her cheek, “What could you possibly be afraid of?”

“Love,” she croaked. “It all happened so fast,” she said, shocked at how quickly he’d pulled back from her. “I’ve never felt it before, never been able to give it either, it just happened, and I…” 

Ben silenced her, his lips crashing into hers. The feel of her fingers running through his hair had brought him back to their first time. How hard he’d fallen for her, how their tongues danced against each other, the way she allowed him to move against her soft yet toned body. He couldn't believe their chemistry but had fallen under her spell the moment the touched. 

“I love you,” he heard her whisper between breaths. 

“I love you too, Rey. Be with me, always. I’ll give you the life you seek, anything… everything. All of me.”

Rey nodded, pulling him back to her, “I know… I will… Always.”

**Author's Note:**

> Music for this is:  
> Peter Roe  
> Shared Tears [Pandora Version]


End file.
